As the global consumers are now choosing to focus on nutrition, health and wellbeing, Emiraes has decided to meet the customers’ desire for minimally processed food.
Emirates has 488 vegan recipes across 140 destinations, dedicated to its vegan customers.
A rise in demand for vegan recipes
Emirates’ Veganuary aims to focus on farm-to-fork plant foods. The latest development project consists of a team of chefs, who are determined to create dishes that feel authentic, vibrant and rooted in culinary tradition, while still maintaining the nutritional value of the dish. The new dishes are set to cater for its customers in 2027.
Emirates Vice President of Food & Beverage Design, Doxis Bekris, confirms the philosophy.
“Our focus now is on legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, and seasonal vegetables as the heroes of the plate. These ingredients offer natural depth of flavour, texture, and nutrition without relying on ultra-processed alternatives. Instead of replicating meat, we want to draw from cuisines that have always been plant-forward, like Mediterranean mezze, Levantine grain salads, Asian noodle bowls, and African stews such as South African chakalaka, Kenyan sukuma wiki, Ugandan groundnut stew, Tunisian lablabi, Senegalese thieboudienne, Ivorian attiéké with vegetables, Guinean peanut stew, Egyptian koshari, and Tanzanian mchicha. In our view, this approach feels genuine and culturally rich.”
“Although there are many commendable lab-based alternatives available, real food aligns with our sustainability goals and guest expectations for health-conscious choices. It’s about transparency for our customers who want to know what they’re eating, as well as have confidence that it’s good for them and the planet. We want to shift from substitutes to a celebration of plants, where it’s not about what’s missing – but instead what is gained in authenticity, flavour, and creativity.”
Serving customers across the globe
Emirates serves half a million vegan meals every year, across the world. Last year, the top destinations with customers ordering vegan meals placed London in first place, followed by Sydney, Bangkok, Melbourne, Frankfurt, Manchester, Mumbai, Bali and Singapore.
Emirates serves some of the demand to non-vegan customers opting for vegan cuisine when flying, as a lighter option often considered easier to digest. Across its African destinations, the airline recognises the growing demand for vegan meals in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tunisia, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Egypt and Tanzania.
In Economy class, Emirates customers can now devour dishes like pumpkin frittata with sautéed mushrooms and tomato concassé, or spinach cannelloni served with tomato basil sauce, toasted crumbs and parsley, and desserts like vegan chocolate mousse cake drizzled in chocolate sauce and biscuit crumbs, or carrot cake dashed with coconut cream.
Meanwhile, in Premium Economy, customers can choose dishes like kimchi fried rice served with roasted pumpkin and sautéed oyster mushrooms, followed by desserts like coconut cake with pineapple compote and pistachios. In the business class, customers will be served dishes like braised mushrooms with vegetables in five-spice soy sauce, served with steamed jasmine rice and blanched pak choi.
Customers can now choose their favourite dishes from the inclusive cuisine range.
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